"I'm borned in Galveston and James Sultry owns my mother and she de only slave what he have. He have a kind of big house on Church St and my mother done de housework and cookin' till she sold in de country. I wishes you could've talked to her, she knowed all 'bout slavery, and she come from Nashville to Mobile and den to Texas. Her name Mary Alexander and my daddy's name Matt Williams and Mr. Schwoebel own him.
"Den us sold to Mr. Snow what live in Polk county. Us gits sold right here in Galveston without gwine no place, my mother and me and my li'l brother. My daddy couldn't go with us and I ain't never seed him 'gain. Mr. Snow live out in de country and have a big place and a lot of field hands and us live in cabins.
"My mother was de cook for de white folks and my li'l brother, Charlie Evans, was de water toter in de fields. He brung water in de bucket and give de hands a drink.
"Plenty times de niggers run 'way, 'cause dey have to work awful hard and de sun awful hot. Dey hides in de woods and Mr. Snow keep nigger dogs to hunt 'em with. Dem dogs have big ears and dey so bad I never fools 'round dem. Mr. Snow take off dere chains to git de scent of de nigger and dey kep' on till dey finds him, and sometimes dey hurt him. I knows dey tore de meat off one dem field hands.
"My mother used to send me and my brother out in de woods for de blackberry roots and she make medicine out of dem. You jes' take de few draps at de time. Den she take de cornmeal and brown it and make coffee out of it.
"I didn't pay much 'tention to dat war till Mr. Snow says us free and den us go to Galveston and she git work cookin' and I stays with her.
"I can't tell you much. My mind jes' ain't no more good no more."
Transcriber's Note
Original spelling has been maintained; e.g. "stob—a short straight piece of wood, such as a stake" (American Heritage Dictionary).—The Works Progress Administration was renamed during 1939 as the Work Projects Administration (WPA).
*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SLAVE NARRATIVES: A FOLK HISTORY OF SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES FROM INTERVIEWS WITH FORMER SLAVES: VOLUME XVI, TEXAS NARRATIVES, PART 3 ***